Thirty Seven
by HappilyEverAfter7
Summary: A sweet, tender moment between Bella and her husband before the birth of their son. One shot.


I got this idea somehow while betaing a story for Terez (check out her profile for awesome AxJ one shots). What I was editing had absolutely _nothing _to do with this one shot. But I got the idea anyway. So I had to give her a little credit.

Cute and short one shot. Just kind of playing around with the characters a bit. I have read a lot of pregnant Bella's, and in all honestly, they haven't been too great. So I decided to take a whack at it. When you're done reading, tell me what you think, shoot me a review. I would love to hear what you think. I reply to all reviews.

.kate(:

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Bella, or Jacob. I only own their little unborn spawn in this one shot.

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**One Shot -**

**Thirty Seven**

**BPOV**

I studied the magazine with strained intent, trying virtually anything to get my mind off the looming pain. Pictures of thin celebrities stained the pages and I inwardly wished I was one of them at that moment. The articles were anything but interesting, rambling on about the latest Hollywood gossip. I'm not even sure why my husband had picked it up for me at the market on a tangerine, tomato soup and vanilla tea run. He had made it there and back in record time, I was quite proud of him.

Thirty seven. That was the number. The number of weeks I had been forced to endure the endless vomit, the tears, the cravings, the mood swings, the weight gain and the engorged lump beneath my breasts that somehow still miraculously passed for a _belly. _The strong points of pregnancy, however, outshined the disadvantages. _Barely. _I took a home pregnancy test after my period was six days late. By that time, brutal nausea had set in and I was absolutely miserable. The test read positive. At the time, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I sat on the bathroom floor crying for a good half hour in utter awe before finally being able to call my husband at work with the good news. That was the best day of my life. At ten weeks, I had my first ultrasound. I was able to see the little bean growing inside of me. Joyous emotions mixed with those of relief. That was when the pregnancy became real, because I could physically see it. At nineteen weeks, we found out that my bean was male. We were having a son. Both my husband and I were on top of the world. We were so elated, in fact, that we had our little boy's name chosen by the end of that same day. _Matthew Jacob Charles Black. _

"Ow!" I gasped, pressing my thumb promptly to where the sharp pain had originated.

I heard several things fall onto the tile floor of the kitchen. A string of boisterous profanities followed. Jacob raced down the hall toward the bedroom. He rushed to the side of the bed and asked me frantically if I was alright.

I laughed at him. He continued to stare at me with a baffled expression. I stroked a hand over his arm. "Jake, honey, I'm fine." I drew a deep breath and smiled up at him. "What, umm, happened in the kitchen?" I questioned, tilting my head slightly to peer toward the open door.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Do I want to know?"

He shook his head with a smirk, and a moment of silent passed before he said, "Okay, how are you doing?"

"We're great," I grinned, and patted my hands against my belly. "Just a little bit sore."

Jacob pulled two pillows out from behind me, holding me up with his other arm so I wouldn't fall back. "What are you doing?" He didn't answer. He tossed the pillows across the bed and climbed behind me. He spread his legs out so that I fit cozily between them. I set my head on his chest, just below his chin and he wrapped his arms protectively around me, setting both hands on my belly. I sat my hands on top of his. We lay like that for a while, talking about the impending birth of our son.

I felt a searing pain in my lower abdomen again and cringed into Jacob. He held me tighter and ran his fingers through my hair, trying to comfort me. The pain didn't last too long, about twenty seconds, but it was excruciating nonetheless.

I was panting. Jacob wiped his hand across my forehead, removing the newly collected droplets of sweat. "You okay, babe?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just," I huffed, "false labor pains."

He kissed my temple. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just…hold me." And he did.

"Thank you," I sighed, once I was able to catch my breath.

"For what?"

"For loving me. For loving our son."

He tilted my head backward, and kissed me on the lips. He took my left hand, and fingered my wedding ring. "See this ring? It's my promise to you, that I will love you for the rest of my life. You know that." Jacob reached in the drawer of the nightstand beside him and pulled out a small blue velvet box. He opened the box, and I was confused for a moment. It was a silver band on a chain. He removed it, and dangled it from his index finger. "I was going to give this to you after he was born. But now is just as good. This is my promise to my son that I will love him for the rest of my life. And when he's old enough, I'll give this to him. Bella, honey, I know you're scared. But you know, I'm here and I always will be. You're going to be the most incredible mom this child could wish for."

He could still take my breath away. I felt very blessed for having that. Some people, once they get married, their spark dies out. But not us. Each day, I fell for him all over again.

I was struck with another pain in my side. I squeezed Jacob's hand forcefully and there was no possible way that hadn't hurt him_. _But he didn't care, he didn't even flinch.

"Bella, sweetheart, Dr. Armstrong said that if the pains are --"

"I know, regular," I broke in. "This isn't false labor, is it?" In the back of my mind, I think I knew that already. But I was too scared to believe it. The thought of being a mother both excited me and frightened me at the same time. I was going to be responsible for another human being's life. What if I messed everything up? What if I wasn't good a good mother?

But maybe everything would be fine. Like he said. Maybe I'd be fine.

I felt him smile. "No." He stroked his hands over my hair, and I could feel him breathing on my neck.

I traced a heart on the top of his hand with my finger. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I whispered coarsely, "You're about to become a Dad." I took a deep, slow breath. "Are you ready for this?"

I tilted my head up so that I could see his face. I had never seen him cry before. Not when we got married, not when he fractured his arm, and not even when Sam had died. But he was crying at that moment. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead, and stroked a hand over my cheek. "Isabella Black," he choked, "I've been ready since the day I married you."

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